What Was Mysterious Activity In Marriott Hotel by U. S. Marines?

[CLG_News]

Found here.

What Was Mysterious Activity In Marriott Hotel Islamabad by U. S. Marines? 21 Sep 2008 After the Marriott Hotel blast, mysteriously, fire started at the fourth and fifth floors. It was said that this fire was the result of gas pipeline burst running through the hotel. The million-dollar question is, was the gas pipeline not running through the other floors? Why did the fire erupt on the fourth and fifth floors? These questions perhaps hold the key to the mystery of why the hotel was targeted. Though it would never be confirmed, the fire on the fifth and fourth floor of the hotel broke out because those floors were housing mysterious steel boxes under the heavy guard of United States Marines and no one -- including the Pakistani security forces and the hotel security men -- were allowed to go near them. These boxes were shifted inside the hotel when Admiral Mike Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others in Islamabad. It is said that one member of parliament, Mumtaz Alam who belongs to the PPP, the ruling party, witnessed the scene when the white truck of the US embassy arrived at the gate of Marriott Hotel and US marines unloaded the steel boxes from the trucks and shifted them to the fourth and fifth floors, without passing through them the scanners at the entrance of the hotel. When the truck was there, the entrance and exit passageways to the hotel were closed. The blast occurred at the Marriott, during that mysterious activity. (Note: Grammatical edits have been made to this summary of the Pakistan Daily article. --LRP)

<snip>

[livelongandprosper]

1. My first thought after getting the news was

WTF are US Marines doing in Pakistan in the first place?

[CLG_News]

2. Blowing up key targets to convince Pakistan's gov't they need

...US "help."
:eyes:

:puke:

:grr:

[SmokingJacket]

3. They're preparing our "October Surprise." nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. The US Military and Intelligence community have been in Pakistan for decades.

My Father was CIA. One of his first overseas assignments after he joined was to the Hindu Kush area of Pakistan.

The history of US intelligence activity in this part of the world is long, but not too well known. I have no other special insight into Afghanistan than anyone else who has read what is commonly available, but the fact that my dad was there over 55 years ago and I'm sure his co-workers have been there ever since, means this incident comes as no surprise at all to me.

BTW, he was recruited by the CIA after Korea, where he served as a Marine Corps Field Medic. He was CIA for 23 years. He passed away in 2000.

[arcadian]

57. Pakistan was a base for U2 overflights of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

[dgibby]

23. Uh, guarding the embassy?

btw, 2 Marines were killed in that blast. As for the boxes, is it not possible that they had moved important embassy papers due to impending threats to the embassy. After all, diplomatic tensions between our 2 countries are at a critical mass right now due to border incursions into Pakistan and their "shoot to kill" orders to repel these incursions. Perhaps, since the hotel is heavily fortified and many other foreigners/dignitaries stay there, the embassy thought it would be safer there. I have no firsthand knowledge of this, just offering another point of view.

[tburnsten]

50. Seems like the most logical conclusion

[bobthedrummer]

4. Why was the late Czech Ambassador there too-what was he doing???

:tinfoilhat:

[texasleo]

5. Shouldn't they be in Galveston hiding bodies?

:eyes:

[seemslikeadream]

6. I was wondering that very same thing

US Marines may have been target of Marriot attack: Officials

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4044680&mesg_id=4044725

[malaise]

11. Pix

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7627175.stm

BBC Report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7627135.stm

This planet is a mess.

[seemslikeadream]

14. Thanks but

watch that spelling~~ :rofl:


You're safe though the badger brigade only targets me!

[malaise]

25. LOL

Toss that! :rofl:

[malaise]

15. From your link

The sources said that soon after the blast, US embassy officials reached the spot and were seen looking for the Marines who, according to the sources, were staying on the fourth floor of the hotel which was among the worst affected as the entire hotel turned into a blazing inferno with orange flames and thick smoke billowing out of its windows.

Besides the Marines, the staff of Saudi Airline and a number of foreigners was also staying at the Marriot.

Police sources said that the dead include three Koreans, two Saudis and one American. Among the injured are some foreigners, including some Americans who were shifted to the hospital inside the US Embassy. Unconfirmed reports also said that a senior US security official was among the injured.
----------------------
Makes you wonder what was in the steel boxes.

[CLG_News]

17. Ah, a CLG reader speculated on that very question! (Language warning!)

Boxes at Marriott 'papers Cheney hasn't had time to shred' By CLG reader Patricia A. Corcoran, Dennis, MA 21 Sep 2008 I think the boxes at the Marriott Hotel were all the papers that Cheney hasn't had time to shred -- fast way to get rid of them. Fuck the courts -- everyone knows it was a liberal judge who's saying Cheney has to keep the records -- whoa -- I can hear the spinmasters now. It's comforting to know that John McCain says our economy is still strong!!! Asshole. And that statement about AIG from Palin was so unreadable -- hell my young cousins know more than that asshole. Still waiting to hear from Palin about the latest bailout. I still think these guys are going to get away with everything -- a blanket pardon by Bush on the morning of January 20, 2009, is the final 'fuck you, you stupid Americans' and now Sarah Palin is the new puppet. Fuck Todd Palin -- if I ignored a subpoena my fat ass would be in jail for contempt. I'm so sick of these people -- they make me vomit.


:rofl:

[malaise]

26. You should know that there are different laws for

the politburo. :D

[CLG_News]

39. LOL! Good one. n/t

[conscious evolution]

20. 'Makes you wonder what was......'

I wonder if the fire was triggered by the Marines setting off thermite grenades to destroy what was in them.

[dgibby]

32. Truck bomb

according to Ann Curry, NBC News, who was on the site and broadcasting live immediately after the blast.

[conscious evolution]

33. How come the cars

in this photo are not on fire?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7627175.stm
Seeing how they are a lot closer to the explosion you would think that they would have ignited also.Sure,they were heavily damaged by the blast but none of them were destroyed by fire.Otherwise they would not still have inflated tires.

[malaise]

36. Watch the video of the attack on BBC n/t

[conscious evolution]

40. I watched the video

I still do not see how the fire in the main hotel building could have been caused by the blast without the lobby or the cars in the parking lot,both of which are closer to the blast site, also catching fire.

[malaise]

41. It's a good point

I don't know.

[dgibby]

47. According to CNN and NBC

the main force of the blast went up more than out. Also, if you notice, everything that was flammable in those cars has already been consummed. There is nothing left to burn. Unlike the Bush adm, I, for one, do not believe kerosene melts steel, and that's the only thing left-metal.

[conscious evolution]

49. Take a good look at the tires

They are still there,fully inflated.
If those cars had burned they would be sitting on their rims.
Also take a look at the photos of the lobby.No fire there either.

[dgibby]

51. good point. what do you think happened?

[conscious evolution]

53. No way to prove it,but

I have to wonder if the Marines used thermite grenades to destroy whatever was in the boxes they were in possession of.
I know if I was guarding money or documents in a building under attack I wouldnot hesitate to burn them.I am also pretty sure that ever since the Embassy in Tehran was taken over using such means to destroy things is probably SOP for security personnel in high risk locations.

But then again,I may just have the tinfoil on a little too tight.

[malaise]

55. Very interesting

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2008/09/200892292555709354.html



A senior commander of the Taliban in Pakistan has denied that his group was responsible for a bomb attack at Islamabad's Marriott hotel, in which at least 53 people died and 270 were injured.

Baitullah Mehsud said on Monday that the Taliban had no role in Saturday's attack, Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, reported.

"Mehsud said that their group does not believe in killing so many locals in the attack," Hyder said.

"RDX was used in the attack, which is a very volatile substance. The big question is: Where did such a large amount of RDX come from? In previous attacks, militants have not used this substance."

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

29. Bodies of Bin Laden doubles. They just don't know which one to use yet, so they have them

under wraps.

[CLG_News]

7. Two US marines killed in Marriott blast: Pentagon

Two US marines killed in Marriott blast: Pentagon 21 Sep 2008 The US Department of Defence at Pentagon has confirmed the deaths of its two marines in Marriott blast in Islamabad. According to GEO News, the Pentagon said that its two marines succumbed to injuries in the blast. The soldiers were deployed in US embassy in Islamabad.

<snip>

[malaise]

8. This post sank like a Wall Street bank this morning

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4051052&mesg_id=4051052
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The fire sure spread fast.

[Jazzgirl]

10. Kickety kick.

There is something strange going on.

[flamingdem]

13. Are we ever going to know what was in those boxes

It gets worse by the day ... what are they up to??

[CLG_News]

16. Thank you so much! n/t

[lonestarnot]

12. Hmmmm. 8 Billion dollars?

[ColbertWatcher]

18. In two boxes!?

This is a picture of $206 million USD


You would need 38.8 more boxes of that size for $8 billion dollars.

I bet there is money in them, but probably not that much.

Or, it's bin Laden's body!

[lonestarnot]

19. Where did you see the number 2?

[ColbertWatcher]

22. Hmm. I don't know. But 39 pallet sized boxes? That's a lot of boxes. n/t

[lonestarnot]

42. enough for 8 billion.

[malaise]

27. Money wouldn't burn like that

but the fire may have fugged up the October surprise.

[lonestarnot]

43. Haven't you seen pugs in action?

:rofl:

[CLG_News]

31. Was that part of the $ shipped to Baghdad on a Sunday in June 2004?

It was the largest one-time cash transfer in the history of the New York Fed. It weighed 28 tons and took up as much room as 74 washing machines. It was $2.4 billion in $100 bills, and Baghdad needed it ASAP. The initial request from U.S. officials in charge of Iraq required the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to decide whether it could open its vault on a Sunday, a day banks aren't usually open... The $2,401,600,000 was delivered to Baghdad on June 22, 2004. It was the largest one-time cash transfer in the history of the New York Fed.

[ColbertWatcher]

37. Actually ...

... it was seized in a raid in Mexico (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-meth17mar17,0,5741023.story?coll=la-home-headlines)

[lonestarnot]

44. You've been watching too much stevie!

:rofl:

[CLG_News]

21. Well, there is a lot of missing $$$ in Pakistan from the Bush regime!

Found here:
http://www.legitgov.org/shortnews_1207_page_two.html

Billions in U.S. Aid to Pakistan Wasted, Officials Assert 24 Dec 2007 After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against 'Al Qaeda' and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge that there were too few controls over the money.

US Senate approves Pakistan aid worth $785m 20 Dec 2007 The US Senate has approved a $785 million assistance package for Pakistan for the fiscal year 2008 as lawmakers passed with a bipartisan 76-17 vote a massive appropriations bill for federal spending on Tuesday night.

[dgibby]

24. I take stuff posted at that site with a grain of salt

I was a huge fan of that site until I followed a few links they had posted re: Minot AFB Oddities. Links did not substantiate the info in the original article, so I contacted them with my concerns. They basically gaffed me off and continued to run the article uncorrected, even though they agreed with what I was saying. Needless to say, I found these actions very misleading, and have NEVER trusted that site since that time. I'm not saying what is posted there isn't true, but I prefer verification from multiple sources before I'm willing to accept what's posted there at face value. BTW, that article was picked up by many other web sites and some of the cable news channels, so the misinformation was spread far and wide. This is the kind of stuff the right wing uses to discredit us as tinfoil conspiracy freaks.

[malaise]

28. Reasonable but this is SLD's link

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?artid=juyqYsIgb8k=&Title=US+Marines+may+have+been+target+of+Marriot+attack%20%3Cimg%20src=

[dgibby]

30. thanks

[sattahipdeep]

34. How do they get away with it? Cofer Black_Erik Prince

U.S. officials said they have drafted several covert missions since 2005 that would have dispatched teams of Navy SEALs and the Army's Delta Force into Pakistan after receiving intelligence on individual al-Qaeda leaders, though not bin Laden. Most of the raids were canceled or failed to receive high-level approval because of doubts that they would work and concern over the fallout if U.S. commandos were killed or captured, said the officials.
J. Cofer Black, director of the CIA's counterterrorism center from 1999 to 2002, was a key player in the hunt for al-Qaeda and well known in Washington for his give-no-quarter approach. "When we're through with them, they will have flies walking across their eyeballs," he told Bush shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903404.html?hpid=topnews%3Cbr%3E

....
Pakistan to target rebel hotspots

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7628535.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7627710.stm

[CLG_News]

46. Prince and his Blackwater terrorists are busy little bees!

And, all at taxpayer expense!

[seemslikeadream]

35. Senior CIA officers were target of Islamabad blast

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/senior-cia-officers-were-target-of-islamabad-blast_10097943.html

Islamabad , Sept 20 (ANI): Several senior officers of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who are reported to be currently visiting Islamabad were the target of the blast at the Marriott Hotel which took place here tonight.

Well placed sources said that Marriott Hotel is usual hotel choice of the US officials and it seems that militants tipped off that certain high level US intelligence officers were currently staying at the hotel.

While no confirmation was available but Pakistan sources said it was clear that the explosion was aimed at specific targets based on a tip off.

At least twenty people were killed, and scores others seriously injured, when an explosives laden truck rammed into Marriott Hotel here today.

Over 50 people have been admitted in the local hospitals.

The powerful explosion caused fire in many parts of the hotel besides damaging the buildings around the hotel. (ANI)

[CLG_News]

38. JI links Marriott blast to Delhi bombings

JI links Marriott blast to Delhi bombings 22 Sep 2008 Jamaat-e-Islami has linked Saturday's suicide attack at the Marriott Hotel to the terror bombings in New Delhi exactly a week ago, saying there may be "one force" behind the attacks in both countries, reported Mid Day, an Indian newspaper. "There can be one force behind blasts in New Delhi and the blast in Islamabad," Jamaat-e-Islami deputy chief Liaqat Baloch told IANS, adding that a foreign hand cannot be ruled out. The Marriot blast took place in the high-security Red Zone of the federal capital and there must have been a very well organized group behind it (such as the one in Langley, Virginia), he maintained. Lashkar-e-Taiba denies role in India blasts: A Pakistan-based Islamist militant group said Sunday it was not involved in a series of orchestrated bombings across India, angrily denying allegations by investigators.

<snip>

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

45. "Found" my ass.

How many of your goddamn sock puppets do I need to put on ignore?

[dgibby]

48. CNN update

CNN is reporting this am (Mon) that there is a possibility that high ranking Paki gov't officials were the targets, but that they changed plans and were not there when the blast occurred.

[pleah]

52. I think that is exactly what they were up to, because

Pakistan gave the OK to shoot US troops

[malaise]

56. That's rubbish

High ranking Pakistani officials were at the post Parliament speech party breaking the fast.

[dgibby]

58. It gets curiouser and curiouser, doesn't it?

[rainydaywoman14]

54. This doesn't surprise me a bit

I mean, there is already covert action (or the promise of such) in Pakistan and I saw one of the morning news shows and the President of Pakistan is not amused with the prosepct of the US conducting raids within their borders and it just irks me to no end when the reporters question him as if a leader has no right to demand that another country not enter without prior agreement!

[Truth2Tell]

59. More from Pakistan Daily

Was Marriott Hotel Islamabad an attack on US Marines and What Was Stored On Floors 4 And 5 U.S. military equipment?

Sunday, 21 September 2008 11:32

Was there a top secret and mysterious operation of the US Marines going on inside the Marriott when it was attacked on Saturday evening? No one will confirm it but circumstantial evidence is in abundance.

Witnessed by many, including a PPP MNA and his friends, a US embassy truckload of steel boxes was unloaded and shifted inside the Marriott Hotel on the same night when Admiral Mike Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others in Islamabad.

Both the main gates (the entrance and the exit) of the hotel were closed while no one except the US Marines were either allowed to go near the truck or get the steel boxes unloaded or shift them inside the hotel. These steel boxes were not passed through the scanners installed at the entrance of the hotel lobby and were reportedly shifted to the fourth and fifth floors of the Marriott.

Besides several others, PPP MNA Mumtaz Alam Gilani and his two friends, Sajjad Chaudhry, a PPP leader, and one Bashir Nadeem, witnessed this mysterious activity to which no one other than the PPP MNA objected and protested.

Much more http://www.daily.pk/politics/politicalnews/7419-was-marriott-hotel-islamabad-an-attack-on-us-marines-and-what-was-stored-on-floors-4-and-5-us-military-equipment-.html">here.

[malaise]

60. More links

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/us-adds-fuel-to-pakistan-crisis/1281083.aspx
<snip>
Why was the Marriot targeted? Two explanations have surfaced in the media. The first is that there was a planned dinner for the President and his cabinet there that night, which was cancelled at the last moment.

The second, reported in the respected Pakistani English-language newspaper, Dawn, is that ''a top secret operation of the US Marines going on inside the Marriott when it was attacked''.

The report also said, ''Well-equipped security officers from the US embassy were seen on the spot soon after the explosions. However, they left the scene shortly afterwards.''

Pakistan's largest newspaper, the News, also reported on Sunday that witnesses had seen US embassy steel boxes being carried into the Marriott at night on September 17. The paper reported that when the steel boxes were carried in they were permitted to circumvent security scanners stationed at the hotel entrance.

Mumtaz Alam, a member of parliament, witnessed this. He wanted to leave the hotel but, owing to the heavy security, he was not permitted to leave at the time and is threatening to raise the issue in parliament. These may be the motivations for this particular attack, but behind it all is the shadow of an expanding war.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14764604

Pakistani authorities are trying to "solve the riddle" of US Marines and their mysterious steel cases that were shifted to the Marriott Hotel four days before it was razed in the worst terrorist attack in the federal capital, a media report on Tuesday said.

"The authorities want to ascertain if it was a routine exercise or part of some special mission that does not have the approval of the government of Pakistan," The News said.

The US embassy insists the activity witnessed was a team of support personnel that often and routinely precede and/or accompany certain US officials.

Zardari, Gilani were to dine at the Marriott on blast day

According to an official source, the authorities were told that mysterious activity of the US Marines took place around midnight on September 16.

"Already, the government has got information that several rooms on the fourth floor of the Marriott were in permanent use of the US authorities. Three of these rooms were said to be inter-connected and contained some intelligence equipment and other material allegedly used for espionage," the newspaper said.

[dgibby]

61. you do good work!

Has anyone rated this up with the new system. I marked it a "must read" 'cause inquiring minds want to know!

[malaise]

62. Do you know that all the major cricket teams were supposed

to play a tournament (Champions Trophy) in Pakistan this month. Teams pulled out for security reasons and the International Cricket Council had to postpone the tournament. All these teams stay at the Marriott when they're in Islamabad. All those who pulled out have been vindicated.